“My dad was very big on us finding our own sort of path,” Airyn De Niro told ‘Them’ in a candid interview
The daughter of Robert De Niro and Toukie Smith detailed growing up “out of the limelight” and finding success on her own merit
Airyn, an aspiring actress and model, is also studying to be a mental health counselor, she said
Robert De Niro’s daughter Airyn has come out as transgender.
In an interview with Them published Tuesday, April 29, about “stepping into this new identity,” as Airyn said, the aspiring actress and model shared revealing details about her life as one of Robert’s seven kids. Her mother, actress Toukie Smith, shares Airyn and twin brother Julian with the 81-year-old Oscar winner.
“There’s a difference between being visible and being seen,” Airyn, 29, told Them contributor Ava Pauline Emilione. “I’ve been visible. I don’t think I’ve been seen yet.”
After The Daily Mail and other outlets reported on a recent appearance of hers and got “information wrong,” Airyn explained, “They just sort of reminded me that people really don’t know anything about me.”
Addressing those outlets labeling her a “nepo baby” due to her father, she said, “I wasn’t brought up having a side part in one of dad’s movies or going to business meetings or attending premieres. My dad was very big on us finding our own sort of path… I would want [success] to happen on my own merit.”
“Obviously, no parent is perfect, but I am grateful that both my parents agreed to keep me out of the limelight,” she said of Robert and Smith. “They have told me they wanted me to have as much of a normal childhood as possible.”
Airyn also spoke frankly about growing up as a “late bloomer,” body dysmorphia and beauty standards.
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“I was always told I was too much of something or not enough of something growing up: Too big, not skinny enough. Not Black enough, not white enough. Too feminine, not masculine enough,” she shared. “It was never just, ‘You’re just right, just the way you are.’ ”
Drawing inspiration from her mother and “the influence Black women have had on me,” she continued, she decided to begin hormone therapy last November.
“I’d want to hopefully be an inspiration for at least one other person like me who is Black, who is queer, who’s not a size extra small,” said Airyn. “I’d want to see more trans women, more Black women who are maybe bigger-bodied or don’t fit the mold of super thin or heroin chic.”
Studying to become a mental health counselor is part of that mission. “People of color and queer people definitely need more mental health advocacy and support,” said Airyn. “So I’m hoping I’m able to do that.”
Robert’s seven kids include his youngest, Gia, whom he welcomed with girlfriend Tiffany Chen in April 2023.
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